Noah Fifita eager to rebound after Arizona’s woeful 2024 campaign

FRISCO, Texas — The junior quarterback is approaching the new season with a different mentality following a year of underachievement with the Wildcats.

As a redshirt freshman Noah Fifita helped Arizona win 10 games for the first time since 2014. Fifita was also the 2023 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, after he set a school-record for completion percentage. However, he suffered a sophomore slump last season, the Wildcats didn’t qualify for a bowl, and tied for second to last in the final Big 12 standings.

Fifita had to humble himself after Arizona’s shortcomings, and he went through spring ball motivated for the future. The players had to identify new leaders, hold each other accountable and find new ways to establish mental toughness.

“I think we learned that we had to make adjustments on our roster, adjustments in our beliefs and I think we did that,” Fifita said. “We made some significant upgrades, significant changes to our personnel, but also in our coaching staff.”

It’s obvious Fifita was a different gunslinger two years ago under Jedd Fisch in the Pac-12, than the way he played in the Big 12 under Brent Brennan in last season. The Californian refuses to blame a new coaching staff, or a conference change for the way he performed on the gridiron though. Fifita is taking full responsibility for all of the losses, and the rough transition of moving from the Pac-12 to the Big 12.

“At the end of the day, both are extremely high levels of football, the speed, physicality, there’s not a huge difference either,” he said. “I would say the Big 12 has some incredible athletes here, and they run a little more coverages, so I’m getting used to that.”

Replacing the receiving production of All-American wideout, and NFL first-round draft pick Tetairoa McMillan will be a tough task, considering Arizona’s offense evolved around him. Which is why Fifita is building chemistry with new targets, and feels everything is looking promising so far.

“We got a great wideout room from top to bottom,” the 21-year old said. “We got some guys that the world might not know about, but are extremely talented and we’re ready to put them on full display.”

As far as improvement with Fifita, he’s polishing his footwork, expanding his knowledge of the playbook and has more flexibility with audibiling at the line of scrimmage. Bottom line, he just wants to make others around him better, and get everyone to play up to their potential.

There won’t be a lot of buzz for the Wildcats entering the 2025 season, but Fifita and his teammates are more comfortable flying under the radar, than having a bullseye on their backs. The goal is to emerge from the shadows, change the narrative, and be in Jerry’s World in December playing for the conference hardware. And that’s saying a lot from a team coming off a 4-8 campaign.

The Big 12 is loaded with elite quarterbacks this fall too, and Fifita happens to be the shortest of the bunch, standing 5-foot-10. Regardless, he continues to prove size doesn’t matter after passing for 43 touchdowns over the past two seasons.

Fifita molds his game after NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, and admires the way Joe Burrow commands Cincinnati’s offense. He believes fans are going to see the similarities with his performances on the gridiron this fall. After all, the Wildcats are a new and improved team in Fifita’s eyes, and they’re hungry to get back on the winning track.

“Our coordinators and our head coach have done a fantastic job instilling our culture, and the belief that we can do what we expect do do, which is win a Big 12 Championship.”